Testimony about Act 250 in Vermont House, Legislature 2020

For Documents and Agendas, see House Natural Resources, Fish & Wildlife Committee website https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/detail/2020/12

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Tuesday, January 7, 2020
1:00 PM
Act 250
Introductions, Narrative Review
Ellen Czajkowski, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Council
Peter Walke, Deputy Secretary, Agency of Natural Resources
Brian Shupe, Executive Director, Vermont Natural Resources Council
Chris Cochran, Director of Community Planning & Revitalization, Housing and Community Development

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Tuesday, January 14, 2020
1:00 PM
Act 250
Administration Proposals
Matthew Chapman, General Counsel, Agency of Natural Resources
Jon Groveman, Policy and Water Program Director, Vermont Natural Resources Council
Chris Cochran, Director of Community Planning & Revitalization, Housing and Community Development
Peter Walke, Deputy Secretary, Agency of Natural Resources
Billy Coster, Director of Planning and Policy, Agency of Natural Resources
Greg Boulbol, General Counsel, Natural Resources Board
3:00 PM
Act 250
Annette Smith, Executive Director, Vermonters for a Clean Environment

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Tuesday, January 14, 2020
3:45 PM
Act 250
Slate Quarries, Mapping
Diane Snelling, Chair, Natural Resources Board
Ryan Knox, GIS Professional, Agency of Natural Resources
Chris Smid, New England Slate Company
Craig Markcrow, Owner and President, Vermont Structural Slate Company
Jon Hill, Owner, Green Stone Slate

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Vt. Senate Committee Looks At Allegations That CSWD Dumped Glass Instead Of Recycling It

 

Click here or on image above to read presentation to Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee

https://www.vpr.org/post/vt-senate-committee-looks-allegations-cswd-dumped-glass-instead-recycling-it

Vt. Senate Committee Looks At Allegations That CSWD Dumped Glass Instead Of Recycling It

By JOHN DILLON • 16 HOURS AGO

The state is investigating the Chittenden Solid Waste District for allegedly dumping glass it collects from northern Vermont instead of recycling the material as required.

The state put the district on notice last year that it had allegedly violated environmental laws. The allegations resurfaced Wednesday in a Senate committee; Chittenden Solid Waste District officials say they have not done anything wrong.

John Brabant was a state regulator on waste issues for 25 years and now works for Vermonters for a Clean Environment, an activist group.

5G — Is it Safe?

Testimony by VCE to House Natural Resources, Fish & Wildlife Committee, Feb. 14, 2019

Click on each link to watch or read the presentation

• Agenda 
• Presentation with Slides
• Written testimony/narrative to go with the slides.  The numbers refer to the page numbers on the slides.
• Video of Presentation with Q&A afterwards:

https://youtu.be/T4-H76wM4jI

 

Where Does Your Garbage Go?

As a young man I used to bring my worst trash to Charlie Nadeau’s Dump in Coventry in northern Orleans County.   The 13 acre unlined dump was located on the edge of an extensive wetland and the Black River which form the headwaters of Lake Memphremagog flowing north into Quebec.  I would return home thinking, “I am helping to poison a river.”  I was part of the problem.    

Fast-forward fifty years. We have become a throw-away society. The waste stream is larger, and carries new compounds of toxic chemicals, harmful to human health, which persist in our environment, unable to break down. Plastics are ubiquitious. Our understanding of how to handle and recycle waste has also changed.  What has not changed in Vermont is the location of the Coventry site which has morphed into a 78 acre mega-landfill operated by Casella Waste Systems, Inc.

Vermont Commission on Act 250 Meeting Videos and Audio

Click on the date to watch the video. All links go to video except where audio is noted.

Vermont Leg. Commission on Act 250 Mtg re Public Process, 6 15 18, 2:03:23

Commission on Act 250 meeting, 10 11 2018, morning. 2:44:33

Commission on Act 250 meeting, 10 11 2018, afternoon session, 2:12:47

Excerpt:Act 250 Commission meeting hearing 10 11 2018 Bruce Post, Public Comment, 5:54

Vermont Commission on Act 250, 10 26 2018, morning portion, 2:27:48

Vt. Commission on Act 250, 10 26 2018, afternoon portion, 2:01:51

Excerpt: Vermont Commission on Act 250, Bruce Post, 10 26 2018, 30:51

Vermont Legislative Commission on Act 250 11 8 2018, morning, 2:21:20

Vermont Legislative Commission on Act 250, 11 8 2018, afternoon, 2:02:36

AUDIO: Commission on Act 250 11.15.2018 01.mp3, 3:43:40

Commission on Act 250 11.15.2018 02.mp3, 31:36

Legislative Commission on Act 250, Nov. 30, 2018, 4:30,39

Act 250 Commission 12 7 2018, morning, 2:13:53

Act 250 Commission 12 7 2018, afternoon, 3:03:43

Act 250 Commission 12 14 2018, morning, 1:56:19

Act 250 Commission 12 14 2018, afternoon, 3:13:42

 

 

 

 

Recharging the Debate on Large Hydro: Northeast Megadams Resistance

by Alexis Lathem

One of the longest rivers in Quebec, the incomparably beautiful Romaine River wound its way through unbroken boreal forests and wetlands teeming with life, plummeting over countless rapids in torrents of white water – among them the spectacular 90-foot Grandes Chutes – before emptying into the St. Lawrence near the Mingan Archipelago National Park. The Romaine was one of the last free-flowing Atlantic salmon rivers on the north shore of the St Lawrence. That was until Hydro Quebec began construction on its 8 billion dollar, 1,500 MW Romaine project in 2010 – the same year that Vermont renewed its long-term contract with Hydro Quebec. Intended entirely for export, Hydro Quebec’s only contract for this power is with Vermont.

But who in Vermont has even heard of the Romaine?